The state of the state is perplexed

Who is this guy? What happened to the Paul LePage the Tea Party loved and the liberals loved to hate?

We don’t know yet if Governor LePage is reinventing himself or his street smarts and survival instinct figure the only way his budget bomb will get traction is if he gets people on board who aren’t usually allowed in the station.

Frankly, Democrats should be flattered the governor dusted off their 2009 reform package and wrapped it in fiscal conservative-speak. Of course there’s negotiating to do about the appropriate balance between “middle-class economics” and “tax breaks for the wealthy,” but most Republicans surely must see income inequality as a real threat to American Democracy, and one that should be addressed in any major tax reform proposal. After all, there’s not much science involved.

The tone of the governor’s address was mellow, the content mostly predictable and there weren’t too many surprises — except suggesting a constitutional amendment to eliminate the income tax — a proposal that’s dead on arrival but got the GOP to their feet.

I’m off to the Blaine House now to get the real story. Unfortunately for you, dear readers, what happens at the Blaine House stays at the Blaine House.

 

 

Cynthia Dill

About Cynthia Dill

Cynthia Dill is a civil rights attorney with the Portland firm Troubh Heisler. She has served as a state senator and representative, and she is the former Democratic nominee in Maine's 2012 U.S. Senate race. She holds a BA from the University of Vermont and a JD from Northeastern University. She is admitted in the U.S. District Courts for Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims. Dill lives in Cape Elizabeth with her husband Tom and their two children.